ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Walter Chappell is an internationally recognized photographer whose evocative
explorations of human form and landscape contributed to the elevation of 20th century
still photography as a fine art. Chappell learned his craft under the apprenticeship of
Minor White and as an assistant curator at the George Eastman House Museum in
Rochester, NY. In addition to his work as a still photographer, Chappell was an
experimental filmmaker. As such, Chappell assisted in editing and was credited as a
“dramaturgical consultant” on Godfrey Reggio’s films Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi.
Chappell died in 2000 at the age of 75. A comprehensive retrospective of Chappell’s
work, including the film ‘Ya Ta Hey Alcatraz!’, was presented September 2013 - February 2014 at the Fondazione Fotografia, Modena, Italy.
Blaine Ellis is a fine art photographer whose photographs are in numerous public and
private collections, including the Aaron Siskind Foundation Collection at the Rhode
Island School of Design, The Museum Of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico and The Bibliotheque National de France. Ellis resides in San Francisco and Abiquiu, New Mexico. His work can be viewed at: